Education

In the area of education, the Zambia Region runs seven schools.
These include three secondary Schools, two Basic Schools (Grades 1-9), one Community School (school for children who cannot access regular schools due to poverty) and one Primary School. In all these schools, the focus is the girl child given that the levels of illiteracy are higher among females mainly due to poverty and the belief that females will be taken care of by men if they did not get an education. Some of our sisters however, work in government schools.

According to the Zambian Education Policy, “Educating Our Future - 1996”, the aims and goals of education in Zambia is the promotion of the “full and well rounded development of the physical, intellectual, social, affective, moral and spiritual qualities of all students so that each can develop into a complete person for his or her own personal fulfillment and good of the Society.” Sisters make every effort to bring out integral human development as comprehensively expressed in the policy but not without challenges.

One of the concerns raised is that minimal attention had been paid to the teaching of Religious Education in our schools which is intended to provide a value base for the pupils. Little time is allocated this subject and the emphasis for many teachers is on passing examinations. The sisters work closely with the Curriculum Development Centre so that Religious Education is given the attention it deserves.

Another challenge is the lack of Science and Mathematics teachers in secondary schools. The government does train many teachers in these subjects but sometimes they are not able to immediately employ teachers upon completion and sometimes, even when employed, such teachers leave government schools for better paying jobs or seek employment outside the country when they can benefit more. Schools sometimes have had to employ teachers temporarily and the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA ) has had to pay them till government puts them on pay roll. This situation provides a huge challenge as to retain teachers for a longer period becomes very difficult where they have other choices.

Primary education is supposed to be or is free in principle but very little money is allocated to schools by government. In this case, pupils do without some important school facilities needed for their integral human development.